Page 68 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

hotel. All day long people are telling your boss that she’s right, and
inevitably she starts to believe it. And at this level, it’s a good bet that you
have a head roughly half the size of a hotel room yourself and don’t like
being told what to do. Resentment on your part is natural.

GROW UP! YOUR BOSS IS NOT YOUR MOM OR DAD
You may try to camouflage that resentment by telling yourself that your
relationship with your boss is like a relationship in a family, where you
also don’t always choose the people you report to. Actually, no. There is a
very good chance that you are not going
to go to the funeral of the person you
spent 10 years with between the ages of
AT THIS LEVEL,
30 and 40. There’s a good chance that if
YOUR BOSS HAS A
she outlives you, she won’t come to
HEAD SOMEWHERE
yours. More than likely, there will be no
BETWEEN THE SIZE
lasting emotional tie.
OF A HOTEL ROOM
Early in your career, because you are
AND AN ENTIRE
so inexperienced and are generally
HOTEL. AND IT’S A
working for people who are older than
GOOD BET THAT
you, your relationship really does
YOU HAVE A HEAD
resemble that of student to teacher or
ROUGHLY HALF THE
parent to child. I say “resembles” for a
SIZE OF A HOTEL
reason. Real teachers, as we all know, are
ROOM YOURSELF
actually civic-minded. Real parents are
AND DON’T LIKE
actually self-sacrificing. In 35 years in
BEING TOLD WHAT
organizational life, I have yet to meet
TO DO.
the boss who is any such thing.
They may tell you, “I’m interested in
making your career better.”
But what they mean is, “I’m interested in making my own career bet-
ter. If it happens to make your career better at the same time, then I’ll

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